I play pad puts up flame shield and I was looking for an Xbox 360 fightpad, but I noticed that there’s both vanilla edition fightpads and Super edition fightpads, and I was wondering if the buttons/D-Pad are better/worse on either version or if they’re identical under the hood, only differing in artwork?
My friend is a pad player, only problem is he plays so much that after 10 months of daily play it got worn out. He is on his second and has a third on for reserve. Second is holding up well but they all are Vanilla.
You’d probably have better luck asking in tech talk.
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I’ve heard the Hori pad is better build quality as well.
I own a Hori and I feel its much better but it has 2 issues. 1st its only for PS3 2nd it has 2 sets of R1/R2 I opened mines and switched L1/L2 to the right shoulder side. I will have it dual modded by gummowend from this forum so I can use it on my Xbox. I have had my Mad Catz pad since day 1 and it hasnt broke once. The MAd Catz and Hori pad are both solid but the overall grip and feel of the Hori fits me better. Copy link in my signature to see my weapons of choice
The vanilla SF4 controllers are MUCH better than the Super ones, trust me. The Super ones are extremely stiff, especially in the diagonal directions. I’m a 100% pad player, and I own about 4 vanilla controllers and 2 super ones. I thought the first one I bought was just bad so I got a second one…was just as bad and stiff as the first. the vanilla ones are great though.
call me crazy but i have been historically been a stick user since i started in the arcades back in the day. around the time gamecube hit, i got an x-arcade. its wack for various reasons i kno but, but at the time was one of the best options for a nice stick and multi-console usage. all was fine until xbox360 came out and they couldnt provide a solution to use it on a 360. so i had to get used to a pad again. for the first 3-4 months of vanilla i used a regular 360 wired pad. its wasnt too bad to get used to again. then i was finally able to get a madcatz pad (blanka) they were mostly sold out around the greater nyc area, but i was to get one on a trip to maryland. I was pretty excited to use it. but after 4-5 months I still couldnt get used to it. i actually hated how the dpad felt. im not sure if it was the material or the construction or what. the controller felt quite bulky in my hands, but very light. the buttons felt solid, but i couldnt get used to the spacing. tried playing with it on my knee, and it was better somewhat but unconfortable. long story short, i went back to the default 360 pad and almost instantly saw better results. i’d say i had decent success with it, almost b+ ranked blanka, and 97 and change % of my trials completed. about a month ago finally was able to get a 360 solution for the xarcade. and going back to a stick is so much better especially with a game like ssf4. but it also made me realize that xarcade is a pos compared to other sticks ive used, so i started building a custom stick.
i guess the moral to my story is that, keep trying your options until you find something that works best for you. purchasing a madcatz pad of either flavor may or not work for you, one may work better than another or vica versa or you may find yourself not like it much at all. What I might suggest you to try get a feel for them. The best way I would do this, go to your local gamestop and see if they have any used ones for sale. there like 6-7 gamestops around my area and at least 3 of them have them used. used regular clear bags hanging off the hanging off the rack of the 360 used goods section. grab it in your hands and try to get used to holding it and how it feels use the dpad and the buttons, see if you like how those feel. try micking your style of play with your main characters by doing special and combos your familiar with to see if it feels good in your hand while executing those motions or at least if you can get used to it. if your slick you can get it out of the bag and do this. if a gamestop rep says anything just tell them your interested in buying a NEW one, but would like to get a feel for it using one of the used ones already there, instead buying one and later returning it, and they will leave you alone most of the time. That way you may be able to see right away if its going to work for you or not.
on a side note, i would def try to check out a horipad, i never seen a hori anything in anything in any gamestop tho. but in that pic that jason24cf pointed out it looks like it is a nicer form factor (smaller rounder) and a nicer dpad. if i was in my pad playing days, id definitely be trying to check one of those out. sorry for the semi long post, but i hope by sharing my experiences and insights with these things, you and others can decide which pad is better for you/them 
Either one you buy, they will break within a few months. They are very very cheaply made. Everyone I know that has one, they’ve died within months and the one I bought was broken out of the packet.
I have a Saturn pad, which I love.
Trying to give it up for the stick though. I’ve had my stick a couple months, couldn’t get on with the square gate so went back to pad. I’ve had my octo gate a few days and I’m doing much better with it, but every now and then I get fed up with losing and bust the Saturn pad out for a couple hours to try and redeem my points/pride after my embarassing stick losses lol.
But yea, I’d suggest a Hori pad or Saturn pad if you want a 6 button pad that’s not going to die on you.
Fightpads are a nice layout, and I really liked the D pad but the materials/workmanship is beyond shoddy, which is a shame because otherwise they’d be a good pad.
What the hell is a “vanilla edition” fightpad?
I actually think the super ones are better. Two vanilla ones of mine broke one had the Green light that stayed on and nothing worked on it. The other had the down button not respond unless you press it hard. My 3rd one is good but when I play yang in 3rd strike the ex slashes fuck up all the time. Probrably something wrong with qcf motions. And my vanilla ps3 pad moves my character foward for no reason so I couldnt block and I actually lost a match in a tournament because of it. My super pad works fine as of now. The buttons are stiff at first but the more you play the looser the buttons will feel.
So I own 4 vanilla pads and 1 super pad.
Just means Street Fighter 4 instead of Super Street Fighter 4
Really??
Wow thats kinda…stupid :wtf:
~TG, Why vanilla?! 
Vanilla is often associated with plain / original.
I’m still seriously baffled how people have had so many die on them in such short amounts of time. Are people just too lazy to open up the casing (post warranty) and replace the rubber backings when they wear down (no different than replacing joystick microswitches)? I find it hard to believe they’re literally snapping in half in their hands and shit.
P.S. I still have and use my release date pad, I’ve just replaced the wear and tear parts but otherwise the plastic casing and PCB are still kicking.
to answer the OP, no, there should really be no noticeable difference, although I think after release they started shipping them with harder/stiffer rubber backings to strengthen them.
The Hori does feel so much better in my hands. It doesnt have a rubber back and sides that tend to get stickey when you sweat. It has a nice solid feel to it. The back of the controller is shaped to fit your hands very well. Again the only draw back is the 2 sets of R1/R2. I opened mines up and rewired L1/L2 to the right shoulder side.
Im sending my Hori to Gummowned today so he can dual mod it so I can use it on the xbox. I like both Dpad but I can pull off a chicken wing with Fei long so much more faster with the hori as its a smaller dpad. So motions will be shorter and quicker. You cant find them in stores, they are only available online and it will cost close to $50. The last drawback is the fact that its only for the PS3. Dual mod will raise the cost as well. But I do favor the Hori over the Mad Catz pad. A pro player by the name of Inthul swore by it and thats why I purchased mines and I can say that I do love it as well.
Well I will love it even more when I am able to use it on my 360
The D pad’s die very quickly, the shoulder buttons either stick down completely or become outrageously loose. And to be fair, when you’ve paid 20-30 quid on a pad you shouldn’t have to open it up and replace shoddy parts just a few weeks/months after purchasing them.
Like I said mine was screwed straight out of the box.
Madcatz are just cheap.
I much prefer my Saturn pad. Hell I have Master System and SNES pads at home that are nearly 20 years old and parts don’t need replacing so Madcatz are obviously getting something very very wrong.
Unfortunately from what I’ve read online it’s a widespread problem so I’d rather not give them my money. I’ve got my stick now so I’m gonna try and learn that and if not I’m very very happy with the Saturn pads.
I’d suggest OP buys Hori or Saturn. Or a stick if you don’t want the transition to be stupidly difficult later on down the line.
ok but what happens when the next SFIV entry is released? Is SSFIV going to become the vanilla edition afterwards?
its already been stated by Ono and others @ capcom that SSF4 and its subsequent add ons (like arcade editions and future dlcs) will but the last in the IV series. so no turbo or hyper editions. but who knos if enough of the community want another incarnation, they might make it, but i wouldnt hold my breath
Street Fighter IV would remain the vanilla edition as it’s the original. Have you really never heard this term used like this before?